Romantic Stylez
by madeinfrance
Summary: Or a series of drabbles about two Brooklyn detectives. (now taking prompts)
1. asshole

_- asshole -_

* * *

><p>"Do you still love me now that you see what I brought upon us?"<p>

Head on her chest, one arm lamely hanging off the couch, Jake smiled in his half-asleep state.

"Oddly enough, I still do."

"Then I guess that's what they call true love, isn't it?", she stated more than asked, hand still combing his hair.

"That, or I'm just an awesome guy that always forgives the many flaws and mistakes of his not so awesome girlfriend. Outch!", he winced weakly at her kick. "Don't hurt my beautiful body! Just because yours is temporally damaged doesn't mean mine has to be, too."

"Ass", she said, not at all sounding convincing as an almost audible smirk grew on her face.

Eyes still shut, he kissed the skin just under her neck softly.

"Just kidding babe. You're still the queen of hotness."

"Liar. Beyonce is the queen of hotness. What do you think she's called 'Queen B', Jake?"

"Am not, and you're _way_ hotter than her. And by the way, I think we both brought that on ourselves."

"Yeah, but that's because I'm such a hot piece you couldn't keep your hands off me, so, you know. My fault. Me and my perfect body and my hotness and my sweet face are totally guilty."

Nuzzling a little more against her skin, Jake started laughing, half at what she said, half at the tone in which she said in, which screamed more 'burnout' than 'hot '.

And at themselves, too. Or at least, at the two walking dead than they'd become, all because of such a tiny little thing.

"I can't believe we made such an asshole."

"Oh my God, Jake! You can't call our baby an asshole. You can't call _any_ baby an asshole."

"Well, I love him like crazy, but he is! He cries all the times, and when that's not enough for his taste, he cries _and_ poops. He does stop once in a while to eat, I'll give you that, but by doing so he uses certain things that would be better off with me, if you know what I mean. What do you call that?"

"Ew, gross. And to answer your question, crying and only stopping to eat? I'd say you in front of 'PS : I Love You'?", she chuckled.

His head shot right up, offence written all over his face.

"Okay, one, everybody with a heart cries in front of that movie, and two, I didn't cry _that_ much!"

"You cry seven times in a row everytime you see it!"

Her laugh was getting crazy now, and despite his hurt feelings (he _really_ didn't cry that much) he couldn't stop his own smile as it vibrated through his body.

Leaning on his arms, Jake pushed himself up, moving the hair away from her face as he hovered over her.

"You really do like beautiful, you know."

She smiled that cute little smile she always had when he told her something nice, almost as if after all this time, she was still embarrassed by it, then laced her arms around his neck, pulling him down for a kiss before whispering against his lips.

"I'm so glad I did this with you."

"Yeah, I know, I'm a super good kisser."

"Not _that,_ idiot. I meant the whole 'doing my life and having a baby with you'. Wouldn't have been as awesome if it wasn't with you."

"Well, I don't know if you admitting that when you're super sleep deprived is good or not, but...yeah, I do make everything awesome. I mean he's an asshole, but he's still super cool, and I think we can fairly say that he has his father to thank for that."

She kicked him again, but still smiled back at him.

"Your ego still needs a serious kick in the butt though."

"As long as you're the one to kick it, it's totally fine by me, Santiago."


	2. beach timez

_- beach timez -_

* * *

><p>"Daaaaddy! Daddy, daddy, da - "<p>

BAM!

Amy and Jake both turned their heads towards the door, eyes wide. After a second, Jake tilted his head, eyebrows furrowed.

"Was that - "

"Aaouw! That hurt!", whined a small voice muffled by the fitted carpet.

As his mind starting to process what just happened, he looked back at Amy with a bewildered expression on his face, and couldn' help the chuckle that escaped him.

She, on the other hand, went from shock to pure panic, making an amazing contrast with the now laughing at loud detective on top of her.

"Oh my God...Honey, are you okay?" she yelled the last words, struggling to push the very amused man off of her. "Jake, _move_!"

She finally managed to free herself, making him fall on his back on the mattress. Still laughing like and idiot, of course. Throwing him a glare over her shoulder as she got up, Amy stumbled as she desperately started looking for some clothes.

"Where the hell is my nightgown?", she grumbled, mostly to herself, running all around the room hysterically. "Don't worry baby, I'm here", she told the door. "And you", she added towards Jake, "feel free to help me at any time."

He didn't seem much prone to do so, though.

"Man, I can't belive he just – outch!"

He was brutally cut off when she resurfaced from underneath their bed and pinched his side. Making him jump so hard, actually, that he ended up on the floor as well.

"That's so not cool, Santiago!"

"Not so funny when it's you with your butt on the floor now, is it?" she smiled at him triumphantly, finally putting her hand on a piece of clothing.

Before Jake could mutter a response, they heard something on the door once more. Probably victim number one trying to get up.

"I'm coming, sweetie!", she said loudly again, fighting with that stupid shirt of his in her hurry.

"Yeah you were", he said, smirking proudly at her.

"Oh my God, Jake!" she whispered-yelled, head finally emerging from the piece of cloth "That's so gross!"

"You didn't seem to find it gross a minute ago", he answered, all cocky.

"He's right behind the door", she shushed him, pointing at it.

"Well, at least I saved my son from a lifetime trauma by thinking of locking it first. _And_, I saved us from spending an awful lot of money on long term therapy, too", he added, getting up, only his boxers on. "I mean, can you imagine if he had walked out on us hav- "

"Don't even say it", Amy warned him with a glare that could easily have killed an army. She opened the door, and turned her attention to their son.

"Hey baby", she said, kneeling in front of a wincing boy. "Aw, you okay?"

"I just run into the door."

Behind her, Jake started laughing again, and this time, with the look of pure confusion of her boy, who was scratching his head like a big cliché, a bit of moquette on his lips, she couldn't help it either : she started chuckling.

"It's not funny, mommy!"

He frowned at her, and she assumed the look he gave her was what Jake refered to when he said that their little one inherited her sensitive ego temper : the man was _clearly_ pissed.

Which, of course, only made her laugh even more.

"_Mommy_!"

"I'm – I'm sorry, sweetie! I'm not, I just - "

Amy desperately tried to bite the inside of her cheeks, but miserably failed. The weird snort that came from her effort didn't arrange the situation, either.

"Mooommy! That's not nice!"

Taking pity on her, and, they both knew it, never missing an opportunity to appear like the best parent out of the two of them, Jake stepped in. Putting his best fake shocked expression on, he walked to them and reached for the boy.

"Yeah, _mommy_, that's not nice", he admonished her as he took him in his arms. "Did you hurt yourself, buddy?"

"Yes, a little here", he said, pointing to one point at the left of his forehead.

"Well that's not cool. Come here."Gently rocking his son, he kissed the spot and pulled him in for a hug."You're a big boy though, you'll be alright."

He winked at her, and she smiled and shook her head at him. Of course, he could turned this so as to look like the the good guy. He always did. And she had to say, he was really good at it.

Admitting her defeat, she stood in front of him, putting her mouth on his.

"Traitor", she whispered against his lips, making his smirk grow wider. She then ran her hand through their son's locks, tracing circles on his head with her thumb.

"I'm sorry, honey. Can I get a hug, too?"

The little boy leaned back from his father's neck slightly, his little arms still firmly encircling it.

"You'll stop laughing at me?"

"I was not laughing at you, baby", she said as Jake put on his sarcastic _of course you weren't, honey_ look on with a purse of his lips."I was just...laughing, at something your dad said. And yes, I'll stop it. Look : no more laugh."

He seemed to think about it for a while, then extended his arms towards his mother.

"No Peralta man can resist you, Ames."

She smiled at him, pressing her little boy tightly against her. "Yeah, seems to work the other way around, too."

"You finally admitted it ! Gosh, I got to write that down."

She punched him for that, making the little wounded laugh.

"Hey, instead of making fun of your old man, answer me this : why are you up so early, champ?"

"Well daddy, it's my first plane today!"

"Your – oh, right ! Of course it is: California timez!"

"Yes, and you said that we'll have a lot of fun, and that you'll teach me build a sand castle, and that we'll have a lot of ice cream, so we have to hurry", the little boy beamed at him, brown eyes shining with excitement.

"You sure about the last part? Or are you just being your mother's son and trying to get as many junk food as you can get? Because I don't recall saying that."

"Yes you did! And then, you also said that mommy should take her blue swimsuit, because she looks very pretty in it."

"Oh. That, on the other hand, does sound like something I could have said" he admitted, grin on his face as he winked at Amy. "Well, go change, buddy : it's beach time! Although our plane do take off in only five hours, so feel free to be your usual self and take your time."

The boy literally jumped out of his mother's grip, apparently not having heard anything after the word "beach", and in a second, all they were left with was a decreasing 'yaaaaaaaaaaay' making its way down the hallway.

Jake chuckled, shaking his head slightly: that kid was nuts. Gosh, he was proud.

"I gotta tell you babe, I've never seen a kid so happy. It's bordering hyperactivity, really. And it sounds like that bump on the head didn't arrange things."

"Well, he does have your genes, after all. Now, do you think uh – ", she said as she put her arms around his neck, pulling herself to kiss him. "Do you think when we get here you could exhaust him enough so he passes out and we can have some time to ourself tonight? "

He pretended to think about it, furrowing his eyebrows in fake concentration. "I'm pretty sure that's the kind of thing that do not give us any point in the best parents competition."

"Nope. But that's the kind of thing that will get us to continue what we were doing, so - "

"I'm on it, princess."


	3. knock knock

_- knock knock -_

* * *

><p>There was a time and a place for everything. Everyone knew that.<p>

For example, one couldn't just burst into song in the middle of the mall; he needed to wait and do it under the shower as it was proper, or his sergeant would definitely smack him on the head (not that he knew anything about that).

Just like one just couldn't knock on someone's door at two in the morning.

Least of all when it was on Jake's door.

Eyes still half closed, blanket around him, he blindly walked towards the entrance, mumbling a vague "Icomin'".

When he opened his door, it took him a minute to even recognize his late visitor, which, by the small smile on her face, seemed to amused her.

"Hey, sleepy head. You look cute."

"It's two, I'm allowed to be sleepy", he whined, voice hoarse.

"I know", her face turned concerned. "I'm sorry."

"'salright". He opened his arms for her, and Amy walked straight into them as he closed the door behind her before wrapping up her close to him in his tangle of sheets. "Mhm, you smell good."

"Thanks. Can I stay with you tonight?", she mumbled into his neck, lips grazing his skin.

"Do you really need to ask?"

He then backed up a little, watching her closely for a moment."You okay though?"

She looked up, chin on his chest, and smiled again."Yeah, I'm fine. Just missed you, that's all."

Jake grinned back through his haze.


	4. the party

_- the party -_

* * *

><p>Jake's life was pretty awesome in general, but there was not a doubt in his mind that this night was in the top five of the best moments. Easy.<p>

All his friends and family, reunited in an awesome party – a surprise party that actually surprised him, at that, with lots of alcohol and awesome games all over the bar, for his birthday, with him and him alone as the star?

Yeah, that _rocked_.

She even convinced the Captain to give him the best birthday gift ever : a tape of two minutes long where he did nothing but say amazing things about Jake. Dy-na-mite.

He had never been more in love with that girl.

Amy, or how he would refer to her from now, the "most amazing girlfriend in the entire world, and yes, even if you made me stop breakfast burrito and won't have sex in the precinct with me", had definitively taken out the big guns, and he was having the time of his life.

He really was.

But as his mom casually told Boyle and Terry how proud she was of her little boy, he couldn't stop his mind from going to that other person who should be there, embarrassing him with old childhood stories and gushing all over him, but wasn't.

It had been two years since his last saw his dad, and since then, well, nothing. Absolutely no interest in reconnecting with his son. Nada.

Great.

Jake kept smiling though, not really paying attention to what was being said, when he felt a hand gently run over his shoulders before coming to play with the hair at the back oh his neck.

He looked up to see Santiago standing next to him, not even looking at him, beaming at whatever Charles was saying. She stayed there, joining the conversation, and for a while he just leaned into her touch, until she finally took his hand, dragging him up.

"Come on Jake, let's grab the next round."

"You know, they're not even paying attention to us; let's just buy two beers and save ourselves – and by that I mean me – from my mother going nuts on my eight grade stories", he said as they walked to the bar.

She smiled as he hopped up on a stool, apparently very happy with herself.

"Oh, that's not what you should worry about; she told me all about tenth grade, and _that_ is priceless."

He made a face, and she kissed his pout away, standing between his legs as her arms circled his waist.

"Admit it: that party is the best."

"Yeeeeeah, maybe not "the best", but I've seen worse."

"Well, good thing we're all heading to a game of paintball in twenty minutes then; all pretty tipsy, some of us straight up drunk- I'm a hundred percent talking about Gina- and yes, Captain Holt and Kevin _are also coming_."

"You're joking", he stared wide eyed at her, not daring to believe her.

"I am not."

"Oh. My. God."

"Yeah, I know", she smirked before leaning in again.

When they broke apart, she pecked him, adding softly, "I'm sorry he didn't come, Jake. He's an idiot."

Tensing a little, Jake tried to brush it off, not needing to ask who she was talking about – he was the only one missing, after all.

"It's okay, I don't care", he smiled. "Who needs him, right?"

He felt her tightened her grip around him slightly, smiling reassuringly up at him.

"I know you're disappointed, but he really doesn't deserve you, you know. And for what it's worth, I'm super proud of you for standing up for yourself."

"Yeah, whatever."

"You're so going to put him to shame when you're a dad. I mean, if you stop all the diabetes inducing food habits, of course."

He chuckled, and this time it didn't feel that forced.

It even put him in the mood to torture her a little.

"Of course. Why are you saying that though, Santiago? Wanna be my baby mommy?"

"What? No! I mean, yes – I do wa-, well I don't", she started babbling, cheeks slowly but surely turning red.

"Because this is great Ames, but we've only been together a year and a half, and I'm not sure that's long enough to start thinking about that."

"I know! I wasn't trying to -", she was really panicking now, but one look at his grinning face turned her panicked look into a glare.

"Oh, you son of a bitch!", she punched him in the gut, and he couldn't help but laugh. "You're an idiot."

"Outch! Okay okay I'm sorry", he said, bringing her back, through the smile in his voice didn't really help him sound convincing. "But you should have seen your face."

"Ah. Ah. Ah. You're such a funny guy. Get the beer, Peralta."

"Oh, come on! Don't worry Amy, I was just kidding. I'll make babies with you if you want", he said with a grin, and she only glared at him as she made her way back to the table.

"We can start working on it now!"


	5. cat out of the bag

-_ cat out of the bag -_

* * *

><p>"I can't believe you did this behind my back", she mumbled angrily, throwing her bag off her shoulder and on the floor.<p>

"'_Behind your back_'? Are you serious right now?", he laughed, half amused, half stunned.

"Yes, Jake, I'm serious", she turned around, glaring at him. "We agreed to do it when we're both ready, and together, and you just go and tell Boyle without even warning me first!"

"For the last time, I didn't tell him anything!", he responded, closing the door behind them, a little more violently than necessary. She's been angry for an hour now, clearly overreacting, and he was starting to get fed up as well.

"I told you, Charles figured it out himself, for God's sake, something that we knew could happen eventually, by the way, so don't turn this on me."

"Oh please", she chuckled without even a hounce of humor. "The first person who guesses, and it just _happens_ to be your best friend? Really?"

"Yes, really, Amy. Believe it or not, we got busted somehow, deal with it, and it's not as if I could - "

"What, lie? Seriously, you couldn't do that?"

"He took me by surprise!"

"Oh yeah, and you're so bad at improvising, you, the guy who comes up with an excuse everytime the Sarge yells at you."

Normally, Jake would have stopped her and properly bragged about that, and maybe throw the story of how one of his improv once successfully ended up with Boon and three of his stupid firefighters colleagues with their pants down. Not today, though.

That's how pissed he was; Jake Peralta, not even taking the time to brag _and_ make fun of the firefighters.

"No I couldn't, because you just said it yourself : he's my best friend, and it's been three months, and oh yeah, he freaking works with us _everyday_, so it was hard to argue with the list of things he noticed and threw on my face when I tried to deny."

"Well, you could have - "

"No, I couldn't have Amy! And you know what, I'm glad he found out!"

"Oh yeah, you're right, that's amazing", and God did her voice got high. "Now all of the precinct will know by tomorrow morning, that's just perfect!"

At that point, Amy felt panic rose up in he,r too, and, to her horror, realized that her eyes were starting to water. Shit.

"Maybe it is, Ames!", and yeah, she had definitively never seen_ him_ that mad at _her_, either. "And maybe you're scared, but I'm in love with you, and I don't care what the others are going to think okay, so if you're not cool with that, it's your problem, not mine."

"You think that's what this is about? Me caring about what they think?", she asked, incredulous. "In case you hadn't notice, Jake, we have a new captain, and she hates us, she made that clear, so do you genius honestly think she's gonna miss the opportunity of us being together to get one of us transferred or something?"

Jake actually calmed down at that, her words, trembling voice and the look on her face finally sinking in.

"Oh", was his intelligent response.

"Yeah, 'oh'. So yes, maybe I'm shit scared she finds out I love you, you idiot, and franckly", she raised a finger in his face, "I can't believe -"

"You just said you love me."

"I - " Oh. Yeah, she totally did.

"Yeah, you totally did", and she was pretty sure he wasn't mad anymore, if the smirk on his face was any indication.

Then again...

"Well, you did too! You just said you're in love with me", and she wasn't sure if it was the fight they just had, the embarassment, or the fact that she just registered that this idiot just told her he was in love with her, but she felt her cheeks starting to burn.

"I guess I did", he said, a fake look of confusion on his face. "I think I have to kiss you now, or something. That's the way it goes, right?"

His hands were already on her hips by now, slowly drawing circles on her skin, and for the first time since she found out that their secret dating thing was over today, she relaxed a little.

"If you really have too", she smiled shyly as he leaned in.

She would have time to panic later.


	6. the zoo

_- the zoo -_

* * *

><p>"Peralta."<p>

"Hey, Captain! Long time no see, how have you been?", Jake beamed up at him, hands on his hips.

"I've seen you half and hour ago. Right before you came back with your son in your arms."

As if on cue, Luke started to giggle as Terry threw him in the air, Boyle grinning and recording the all thing on his phone next to them.

"Yeah, about that", he grinned, " I was thinking - "

"That's highly unprofessionnal, Detective."

" - since it's not affecting the precinct in any way - "

"Every detective in this room is watching your child playing with Sergeant Jeffords and Detective Boyle."

"Yeah I know, he's adorable, right? I have the best baby in the world. Anywho, I was thinking, as everybody is working as usual and everything's cool, maybe he could stay with us for a couple – four or five – hours? ThanksCapyou'rethebestbye!", he said as quick as he could, turning back to flee without waiting for an answer.

"I did not agree, Peralta."

Coming back to him, Jake winced, putting his hands together in front of him in supplication.

"Okay fine, I screwed up, and if you don't want to watch Amy kick my ass, you better help me. Although I now realize you'd actually enjoy watching that."

"Yes, I would indeed."

"We all would, Jake", Gina yelled, coming back from the evidence room with an dirty (and very creepy) looking doll.

"Thanks Gina, and please don't put that thing near my kid."

"For God's sake, it has no clothes and one boob is missing", Charles said with disgust written all over his face, holding a very amused baby in his arms as he started running from Gina and around the precinct. "I will not let you traumatize my godson. Stop it, stop it!"

"Here, I found some candies for the boy in my desk", Hitchcock announced proudly, holding out a bar of chocolate.

"Do_ not_ give him that! He's a baby, for crying out loud", the Sarge yelled, coming right at him with a threatening finger raised.

"Yeah, but he's Jakey's baby, so maybe he can handle sugar better than normal babies!"

"What about his teeth, Hitchcock? Look how tiny he is, he can't brush his teeth!"

"But he has just two of them - "

"Hitchcock, give me that!"

"Okay", Jake clapped his hands together, looking back at the captain. "As I was saying, I was supposed to tell my mom to pick Luke from the nursery because it closed early today, but I forgot, so they called me telling me I basically abandonned my baby there, so I went to get him. Only problem: my mom happens to be busy, and Amy's family is not in town, so I basically have no choice but to keep him here with me."

"You were right. Detective Santiago_ is_ going to kick your ass."

"Yes, I know, and I'm terrified. So, could you please please please make a exception and let me keep him there? At least it will look like I have the situation under control. As you've just seen, it doesn't change anything, really."

"This precinct looks like a zoo, Peralta", Holt pointed at Charles and Gina, still running, Terry taking all the candies from Hitchcok as Scully tried to stop him by grabbing his leg.

"Uh – well, with all due respect, that place is always a zoo anyway, so."

Holt just stared at him, in his expressionless, unreadable way, and Jake knew he only had one card left to play.

"Okay Captain, let's face it: you're pratically his grandpa. I mean, I'm like your super cool son, and Amy's like your super nerdy dorky daughter, and you're like super proud of us all the time", Jake bragged, very convinced of what he was saying.

"So, deny it all you want, but I know you love him, and I've seen you smile at him. Multiple times. And you wouldn't throw your grandson in the street now, would you? I mean, that would just be very uncool."

"I wouldn't throw any infant on the street, Peralta -"

"Fair enough."

" - but you make a point. We do really appreciate that toddler of yours, despite him having inherited some of your genes. I'm sure Kevin would be very happy to take care of him. I'll call him."

"Tight! Thanks Captain, high five", Jake beamed, not even waiting and taking his superior's hand to do it. "Hey Luke, guess who you're going to see?"

Of course, that's the moment the elevators doors opened.

"What the - "

"Hey Santiago, I think that's your kid Boyle is holding away from Gina", Diaz stated, a small smirk forming on her lips.

And, with one look at Amy, Jake just knew he was oh so going to pay for that later.

"Hey, babe! So, funny story - "


	7. a hard day's night

_- a hard day's nigh_t -

* * *

><p>Night shifts. God, how he hated those.<p>

He'd rather hear about Charles' latest food obsessions _and_ Gina's new crushes or dance moves all day than doing one of those.

Not that the Captain cared, of course.

Covered in snow and shivering – because of course, it had to be freaking December, Jake fumbled with his keys, finally managing to open the front door after a good forty seconds.

Dropping his bag on the floor quietly, he got ride of his shoes and coat, heading to the kitchen to get some water.

5:47 am, read the oven. "Great."

He was freezing, but at that hour, he didn't even have the courage to think about getting a shower. Walking towards the bedroom, he muffled a curse when his toe hit a corner – because of course it would-, feeling close to passing out when he finally reached it.

He made sure not to make any noise as he got ride of his jeans – good God, was that what living in the North Pole felt like? -, but apparently wasn't careful enough.

From under the covers, Amy's face appeared, searching for him in the dark.

"Hey", she managed, voice adorably confused and sleepy.

"I'm about to drop dead and frozen, Ames", Jake whined, finally getting ride of those damn pants.

"Come here", she offered, opening her arms, and by extension, a breach under all the layers of warmth covering her.

Not needing to be told twice, he practically collapsed on her, stopping himself with his forearms just enough so he wouldn't crash her as she closed her arms around him, protecting him from the freezing air.

The heater was _on_, for crying out loud.

"I'm so cold", he mumbled against her skin, head burrowing in her neck as he wrapped himself around her warm body.

"I know, babe", she whispered sympathetically, smiling at his state. Exhausted Jake tended to sound and look really cute.

Under the covers, Jake felt her hands running over his back, lips leaving kisses in his hair.

"Just go to sleep", she said softly, dozing back off herself.

Again, he didn't need to be told twice.


	8. the shoes

_- the shoes - _

* * *

><p>Amy Santiago did not lose face. No no no.<p>

Well, sometimes she did, but it was never intentionally, and when she could help it, she didn't. _Never._

Even if right now, it meant trying really, _really_ hard not to cry as she listened to whatever Kevin and the Sarge were talking about.

She and Jake had a fight tonight. It wasn't anything serious, but they were both pissed, and as they got ready for the party, it just kept going, anything the other said or did getting a nasty comment from the other.

(_"Would you hurry? We're already late!"_

_"Oh yeah, because you're always so on time, Jake."_

_"I was actually thinking of you, darling. It might be difficult to take the opportunity to suck up to Holt again if you dare show up three minutes late, right?"_)

And on and on and on. (Title of their sextape, he would add. The idiot.)

When they finally headed out, she was too busy yelling at him to notice what shoes she was putting on. Giving him, of course, the perfect opportunity to retort.

"Right, I'm the dumb one. By the way, you just put on the heels that hurt your feet, genius", he made a face at her.

Shit. He was right; tt was the pair that made her want to kill herself after ten minutes. But of course, now it was too late to back out.

Shit, shit, shit.

"They don't hurt me anymore", she said, holding his gaze as she forced herself to put on the second shoe, already dreading the pain.

"Oh really? So you didn't plan on "blowing those stupid things up just like we did with Scully's shoes"?", he mockingly made quotations gestures with his fingers, reminding her of the last (horrible) time she wore them.

"No, I didn't. Now let's go", she headed out, head high. Being right was a matter of confidence, anyway.

Oh _God_, they already hurt.

Which brought her here, three hours into the party, wishing she was dead.

They had long made up by now, but there was still no way she was letting Jake know he was right. Although he was busy laughing with Charles and some other guys at the other end of the room. If she took them off now, he wouldn't see it, and it would only be for a second, anywa -

"Santiago, are you okay?"

The Sarge's voice startled her, bringing her back to reality where he and Kevin were both staring at her, looking worried.

"What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine!", she said with too much enthusiasm, and they looked at her as if she just been released out from the mental institution Gina once try to book her in. "I'm just uh – tired. A bit tired", she chuckled nervously, and it didn't seem to help her case.

"Right."

Two hours later, everybody was going home, drunkenly and happily chatting. They said their goodbye, wishing Rosa good luck as she ended up being the one that had to bring Gina home after her ten or so mojitos, and left.

It was warm, the party had been nice – despite the obvious problem she had to suffer -, Jake had his arm draped over her shoulders, making her laugh as they headed to the end of the street, and if it hadn't been for her stupid feet in her stupid shoes, her night would have perfect. It had ruined the all thing, but at least now they could just get in a taxi and -

"Hey, there's not a lot of cabs around here, let's just walk."

She stopped dead on her tracks, horrified.

Which wasn't exactly smooth, really, as as they were basically intertwined, it made it stop, too, looking at her under furrowed eyebrows.

"What's up? You forgot something over there?"

Frustration taking over, she threw her arms in the air, despair making her want to start sobbing right now.

"Fine! I'm in pain, okay? I've been in so, _so_ much pain for so, so many hours. At one point, I was so angry that I nearly made a remark at the Captain when he walked on my right foot and I thought I was gonna pass out. So, yes, here you go; you win!", she finished, breathless, collapsing on the staircase close to them.

"What's going – is it the shoes?", he asked, confused, as she started rubbing her ankles.

"Yeah, it's the shoes", she answered, bitter even if it really wasn't his fault, and felt guilty for it. "You win", she repeated.

Realization finally seemed to hit him, and he rolled his eyes, laughing a little.

"You suffered in those thing for five hours so you would be right. Really, Ames?", he came to sit next to her. "You're crazy."

"Am not!", she answered automatically, conceding when he looked at her, eyebrows raised. "Okay, I am. It hurts so bad", she whined, dropping her head on his shoulder.

He chuckled, kissing her forehead softly, running his hand soothingly on her cheek for a few seconds.

"Come here", he said – without, she noticed, even pointing out how right he had been -, adjusting them so her legs were over his lap. "Let's take off those bad boys."

Gently, he took the shoes of her, grimacing every time she winced.

"Does it still hurt them, or can I rub them?", he looked up at her, his big brown eyes gentle as he waited for her call.

"It's okay", she smiled, arm tightening around his shoulders, hoping he would get how grateful she was. "You can go ahead, it's not that bad."

Well, at least that what she thought until his hand actually touch her feet, that is.

"Aow, aow, no no, I was wrong, it's that bad!", she almost yelled, and he shook his head, half pitying, half amused.

"Oh, Amy Santiago", he chuckled, cupping her cheek instead, kissing her frown away.

She let him, bringing her other arm around him to bring him close. They kissed for a while before he pulled away slightly, face inches from hers.

He tasted like vodka, redbull and Jake, and her heart did the stupid skipping a beat thing when he smiled at her again. It's been five months, for God's sake.

"So. Ready to go home, champion?", he asked against her lips, pecking her one last time.

"Ugh", she grimaced, already dreading to put those things back on as he got up. "I'm gonna die. I hate those stupid things. As soon as we're home, they're in the trash", she grumbled.

"You should really sell them to Gina instead. I think she likes them, and she hasn't felt her feet in years – her words. Come on, grab those bad boys and up, cow boy!", he grinned like the five year-old that he was.

"What?"

"Well, you can't walk bare foot in New-York, even I wouldn't do that, and there's no way you're putting those back on, so", he happily gestured towards his back with his thumbs, "you have no choice here, detective : piggie back riiiiide!"

She laughed, rolling her eyes for good measure at his over the top enthusiasm as she grabbed her shoes in her hands and climbed up on his back, happy to finally catching a break – and yeah, to be riding ten block carried by her adorable dork, too.

"Here we go!", he announced proudly when she was settled. "Best boyfriend ever or what?"

Arms around his neck, she smiled and pressed a kiss against his cheek. "Something like that."


End file.
